Stan yesterday asked why had the USA moved lightly armed US Army paratroopers into three eastern NATO members territory.

Not unexpectedly the NATO AWACS fleet has been deployed, it works under the control of SACEUR. With at least one plane based in Rumania. As reported by NYT:http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/wo...b-russia.html?

I note this article refers to last week's "buzzing" of a US destroyer in the Black Sea, by a Russian aircraft:
...a squadron of NATO fighter jets that chased it away.
Really? I don't recall any mention of that at the time. One trusts that the military-to-military 'hotline' was used to prevent misunderstanding.

Part of the headline comes from Mr. Pabriks, the former Latvian defense minister, when he refers to five minesweepers coming to the Baltic ( two from Norway and one each from the Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia) as:
They’re not battleships, of course. It’s clearly a signal, but obviously not enough